1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a diagnostic systems and also to diagnostic apparatus for use in the system.
A preferred embodiment of the invention as described herein is for use in aircraft for the diagnosis of medical emergencies, on aircraft in flight, of humans. However, the invention is not limited to that. The medical diagnostic equipment may be used on other vehicles, e.g. ships, and may be useful on land especially in locations remote from medical help. The invention may also be applied to the diagnosis of faults in machines, for example aircraft, and electronic equipment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
PCT/GB98/00613, WO-A-98/40009 discloses such a diagnostic apparatus. The apparatus is intended for use by non-expert people (i.e. people who have little or no medical training) in locations remote from skilled medical assistance. For example the apparatus may be used on an aircraft by flight crew who may have had some training but who seldom use the equipment and then only in conditions of a suspected medical emergency. The apparatus is linked by narrow-band communications channels to a response centre where expert medical advice is available.
It is desired to provide diagnostic apparatus which is easy to use by people who have little, or even no, training in its use and who have little or no expertise in the body being diagnosed, for example no medical expertise in the case that the body being diagnosed is a human.
The apparatus of WO 98/40009 has narrow-band communications links with a remote response centre. It is thus necessary to avoid transmitting large amounts of data between the diagnostic apparatus and the response centre.
According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a diagnostic system comprising:
a diagnostic apparatus having at least one diagnostic sensor and a display for displaying an image;
a complementary apparatus having a display for displaying an image;
a communications system by which the diagnostic apparatus and the complementary apparatus communicate;
the diagnostic apparatus and the complementary apparatus being arranged to display the same image; and
the complementary apparatus having means for annotating the displayed image and for transmitting, to the diagnostic apparatus, data representing the annotation, the diagnostic apparatus being arranged to display the annotation on the image displayed thereat.
The image may be an image (a help screen) illustrating the operation of the apparatus or an image of the person undergoing diagnosis. An expert at the complementary apparatus which displays the same image annotates the image at the diagnostic apparatus to assist the users. Thus inexpert users can be guided by the expert.
The communication system may provide a narrow-band width and thus a low data rate. Bandwidth is preserved because only data representing the annotation is transferred from the complementary apparatus to the diagnostic apparatus (not the image together with the annotation). Preferably, the said data representing an annotation comprises a file containing information representing the annotation, the diagnostic apparatus being arranged to display the annotation represented in the file. Alternatively, the said data representing an annotation comprises commands and variables defining the annotation, the diagnostic apparatus being arranged to recreate the annotation therefrom.
In a preferred embodiment, the diagnostic apparatus and the complementary apparatus each have stores for storing images, the diagnostic apparatus storing a set of a plurality of images and the complementary apparatus storing an identical set and the said images have identifiers, and the identifier of an image to be displayed at one of the diagnostic apparatus and the complementary apparatus is transmitted to the other to cause it to display the same image stored in the store thereof. Thus images may be displayed and selected (and annotated) without the need to transmit large amounts of data between the diagnostic apparatus and the complementary apparatus.
Another aspect of the invention provides a diagnostic apparatus for use with a complementary apparatus having a display for displaying an image,
the diagnostic apparatus having:
at least one diagnostic sensor and a display for displaying an image;
a communication system by which the diagnostic apparatus and the complementary apparatus communicate;
the diagnostic apparatus and the complementary apparatus being arranged to display the same image;
the diagnostic apparatus being arranged to receive from the complementary apparatus, via the communication system, an annotation of the image and to display the annotation on the image displayed thereat.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, most actions taken at the diagnostic apparatus are replicated at the complementary apparatus. All images displayed at the diagnostic apparatus are displayed at the complementary apparatus. The ability of an expert at the complementary apparatus to see the images and the manner in which the apparatus is used and to annotate images allows the expert to use annotations to guide the users.
In a most preferred embodiment the users communicate with the expert via a voice channel. They can thus ask for guidance and the expert can provide such guidance by voice and by annotation.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a diagnostic system comprising: a diagnostic apparatus having at least one diagnostic sensor and a display for displaying an image; a complementary apparatus having a display for displaying an image; a communication system by which the diagnostic apparatus and the complementary apparatus communicate; the diagnostic apparatus and the complementary apparatus being arranged to display the same image; wherein the diagnostic apparatus and the complementary apparatus each have stores for storing images, the diagnostic apparatus storing a set of a plurality of images and the complementary apparatus storing an identical set and wherein the said images have identifiers, and the identifier of an image to be displayed at one of the diagnostic apparatus and the complementary apparatus is transmitted to the other to cause it to display the same image stored in the store thereof.
Thus bandwidth is preserved because identical images sets are stored at the diagnostic apparatus and at the complementary apparatus and the same images are selected for display by transmitting the identifiers avoiding the need to transmit whole images.
In a preferred embodiment, the images stored at the diagnostic apparatus include images which are displayable at the diagnostic apparatus only in response to a command from the complementary apparatus. For example such images may illustrate medical procedures and which should be made available to the users of the diagnostic apparatus only under the supervision of the expert operating the complementary apparatus.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a diagnostic apparatus comprising:
means for sensing data of a body,
communication means for transmitting sensed data to a remote location and for receiving control data from the remote location,
display means,
processing means to which the sensing means, communication means and display means are connected to form an integrated system,
the processing means being arranged to:
a) control the sensing means;
b) process the sensed data; and
c) control the communication means;
the processing means storing a set of images each image having a unique identifier, the processing means being responsive to a command from the remote location to select and display a stored image identified by the command.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a diagnostic system comprising:
diagnostic apparatus according to said one aspect of the invention: and
a device at the remote location comprising communication means for receiving sensed data from the diagnostic apparatus, a display and a processor, the processor of the device storing a set of images identical to the said set of images stored by the said processing means.
Because the images are stored in the diagnostic apparatus and an image is selected for display by a command identifying the image, only the command and identifier need be transmitted, reducing the amount of data to be transmitted. At least some of the images include context sensitive instructions. The appropriate image can be selected by an operator at the remote location to assist the user.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the processing means is responsive to an image annotation, together with the identifier of the image to be annotated, received from the remote location to combine the annotation with the identified image stored by the processing means and to display the annotated image. By transmitting from the remote location only annotations and not the combined image and annotation, the amount of data transmitted is minimised. In a most preferred embodiment, the apparatus and the remote location run the same image processing software which includes annotation tools. Then it is necessary to transmit only variables identifying the annotation tools minimising the data to be transmitted. The variables may be transmitted in a file or in near real time as variables per se.
Zoom and pan variables may also be provided from the remote location to the diagnostic apparatus. Preferably the zoom and pan variables are transmitted as such and not in files. They enable the remote location to guide the operator of the diagnostic apparatus in near real time by emphasising portions of the images displayed at the diagnostic apparatus whilst minimising the data transmitted.
The images mentioned above may be graphics which are used for example as help screens aiding the operator of the diagnostic apparatus and or images produced by a camera of the diagnostic apparatus.
In accordance with a yet further aspect of the invention, there is provided a diagnostic system comprising:
a diagnostic apparatus having at least one diagnostic sensor and a display for displaying an image;
a complementary apparatus having a display for displaying an image;
a communication system by which the diagnostic apparatus and the complementary apparatus communicate one with the other;
the diagnostic apparatus being arranged to perform a predetermined plurality of actions; the diagnostic apparatus and the complementary apparatus being arranged so that the complementary apparatus replicates the said actions.
Thus an expert at the complementary apparatus is able to monitor all the predetermined actions taken at the diagnostic apparatus.